A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to methods and apparatus for providing search results in response to an ambiguous search query provided by a user.
B. Description of the Related Art
Most search engines operate under the assumption that the end user is entering search queries using something like a conventional keyboard, where the input of alphanumeric strings is not difficult. As small devices become more common, however, this assumption is not always valid. For example, users may query search engines using a wireless telephone that supports the WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) standard. Devices such as wireless telephones typically have a data input interface wherein a particular action by the user (e.g., pressing a key) may correspond to more than one alphanumeric character. A detailed description of WAP architecture is available at http://www1.wapforum.org/tech/documents/SPEC-WAPArch-19980439.pdf (“WAP 100 Wireless Application Protocol Architecture Specification”).
In the usual case, the WAP user navigates to the search query page, and is presented with a form into which they input their search query. With conventional methods, the user may be required to press multiple keys to select a particular letter. On a standard telephone keypad, for example, the user would select the letter “b” by pressing the “2” key twice, or would select the letter “s” by pressing the “7” key four times. Accordingly, to enter a query for “ben smith”, the user would ordinarily need to enter the following string of keypress: 223366077776444844, which map to letters as follows:                22->b        33->e        66->n        0->space        7777->s        6->m        444->i        8->t        44->hAfter the user has entered their search request, the search engine receives the word or words from the user, and proceeds in much the same manner as if it had received the request from a desktop browser wherein the user employed a conventional keyboard.        
As can be seen from the foregoing example, this form of data entry is inefficient in that it requires eighteen keystrokes to enter the nine alphanumeric characters (including the space) corresponding to “ben smith”. Others have attempted to overcome the limitations imposed by reduced data entry devices, but each of the approaches developed thus far has shortcomings. There remains, therefore, a need for methods and apparatus for providing relevant search results in response to an ambiguous search query.